Friday's Ask the Experts: Bidding and estimating help

Friday''s Ask the Experts question from a cleaning professional on the International Custodial Advisors Network (ICAN) "Ask the Experts" page: I am new to the world of commercial cleaning. My business partner and I are bidding a job for a company near us. They have about 3,000 square feet and need vacuuming, dusting, windows and bathrooms cleaned, mopping, and a kitchen area cleaned three times a week. I estimated that the job would take the two of us about 2 hours a day. I am trying to figure out how to bid the job. (This is the formula I used. I am not sure if this is too high or if I am doing it correctly.) These are my figures per week: Labor and Materials: $168.00 ($12.00 per hour per cleaner and five percent for supplies) Overhead: (35 percent) $58.80 (The book said overhead should be between 20percent and 50 percent) Net Profit: (20 percent) $45.36 (The book said net profit should be between 10percent and 28 percent) Total would be: $267.96 a week This makes the average cost $.09 per square feet per week. Am I doing this correctly?

The answer:

Your figures are in the ballpark, but may need some tweaking. First off, it is difficult to give exact answers without knowing your experience level, training, general speed, and a host of challenges on the worksite. I like to classify the challenges as Cleaning Variables that are unique to each building. With that in mind ... — Gary Clipperton, president of National Pro Clean Corp.